Copyfight/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/
the politics of IPen-usawexelblat@gmail.com2014-09-13T05:55:48-05:00hourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00Net Neutrality? Still Could Be Kepthttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2014/09/13/net_neutrality_still_could_be_kept.php
In case you've been hiding under a very large rock and were not one of the half-million-plus people who sent comments to the FCC this week, the Copyfight readers at Singlehop have a quick overview for you on the topic. If you do want to submit a comment, there are many sites that will help you do that. Here's one from The Nation, which is urging people to get their comments in before the September 15th deadline for public comment. If you live in or near New York or Philadelphia, freepress.net would like to invite you to their public rallies...77324@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2014-09-13T05:55:48-05:00Please Sign the Petition for James Risenhttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2014/05/11/please_sign_the_petition_for_james_risen.php
Risen's "crime" is attempting to protect his anonymous whistleblower source. The Obama adminstration - one of the most hostile in all of history toward whistleblowers - is arguing that Risen's case should not be heard by the Supreme Court because they fear that the Court will agree reporters should be allowed to have anonymous sources. FAIR has organized a petition on Risen's behalf, asking the Administration to drop its opposition to Risen's request to have his case heard before our nation's highest court. Please understand that this affects all of us: journalists and whistleblowers most directly, but also those of...77115@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2014-05-11T12:17:57-05:00FCC Loses Again, and It's Their Own Damned Faulthttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2014/01/14/fcc_loses_again_and_its_their_own_damned_fault.php
In a move that surprised approximately nobody, the CAFC has ruled that the FCC lacks authority to regulate "information services" as "utilities." That's unsurprising because about 10 years ago the FCC decided to classify ISPs as information services. The classification was designed to exempt then-nascent ISPs from the level of regulation that big broadcasters had to follow. Now it's a decade later and there are effectively no differences between the major ISPs and broadcasters - often they're owned by the same parents. But the FCC's regulations are still on the book, and while the court held that the FCC does...76896@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2014-01-14T12:40:09-05:00Learning About Speech By Doing It Wronghttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2012/10/08/learning_about_speech_by_doing_it_wrong.php
Free speech (in the US, First Amendment) claims are somewhat tangential to Copyfight interests, but it's still important to understand how courts interpret things. First of all, you don't have First Amendment rights with regard to private interests, such as the corporations that make up the Copyright Cartel. Against a government you may, and lots of people assert that the government can't restrict speech. Entities that are publicly funded, such as libraries or public parks, usually have to follow the same restrictions as governments themselves. In fact, courts have held that governments may restrict speech, but only under certain conditions....75916@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2012-10-08T09:29:25-05:00Verizon are Utterly Dafthttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2012/07/10/verizon_are_utterly_daft.php
Orwell was too conservative when he described newspeak. Today's entry comes from Simon Maloy at the Mediamatters blog, who tells us that Verizon's notion of "freedom" is "we should be free to censor you." Well, not you precisely. Verizon wants to be 'free' to edit what you see on the Net. In particular, Verizon's brief last week to the Court of Appeals in DC claims that the carrier wants to be thought of as an Internet "editor." If this seems a bit strange to you, then you might be remembering that Verizon argued exactly the opposite when the RIAA sued...75748@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2012-07-10T12:02:26-05:00SCOTUS Puts (Minor) Constraint on FCC Censorshiphttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2012/06/21/scotus_puts_minor_constraint_on_fcc_censorship.php
I had to go back to 2006 to find the last time I'd blogged on this topic. Finally, six years later, we get some relief. Today, unanimously, the Supreme Court said that the FCC cannot arbitrarily (and retroactively) fine a broadcaster under its "fleeting obscenity" standard. Unfortunately, the Court declined to opine on the bigger issues of speech and censorship in general; instead, they focused on the fact that the broadcasters could not have known in advance that they would run afoul of post-broadcast complaints. The Court explicitly invited the FCC to revise its guidelines. Here's the relevant paragraph from...75715@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2012-06-21T13:26:14-05:00Posting Newspaper Excerpts Ruled Fair Usehttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2012/03/20/posting_newspaper_excerpts_ruled_fair_use.php
In the EFF Deep Links section earlier this month Kurt Opsahl posted a summary and discussion of one of the Nevada federal district court judgments against Righthaven. The court rejected Righthaven's claim that online excerpting was copyright-infringing action, and also noted that a site which permits user comments is not automatically liable for material posted in those comments, even if the site is not a formal candidate for DMCA Safe Harbor provisions. Righthaven is often referred to as a copyright troll for its practices of suing far and wide on dubious legal theories; for example, see this Boingboing post from...75535@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2012-03-20T09:56:22-05:00Canadian Scientists Take Their Case to the Publichttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2010/10/20/canadian_scientists_take_their_case_to_the_public.php
In an attempt to get around what seem like heavy-handed rules from the Canadian government, the scientists' union has put up a Web site to publicize members' work. The Globe and Mail has coverage of the issue, noting that there seem to be an increasing number of hoops for government scientists to jump through if they want to talk about their work to the media. The fear, of course, is that the intention behind all these new rules is to move away from science-based policy making. This is presumably because the science doesn't support the pet policies of those in...74723@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2010-10-20T15:53:37-05:00Gene Simmons Has A Big Mouthhttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2010/10/20/gene_simmons_has_a_big_mouth.php
But then again, he'd need it to hold that much tongue. Except holding his tongue has never been his strong suit, has it. The ex-KISS bassist has managed to get himself a personal Google headline "Make sure your brand is protected," ... "Make sure there are no incursions. Be litigious. Sue everybody. Take their homes, their cars. Don't let anybody cross that line" That, and some additional comments about "every fresh-faced, freckle-faced college kid who downloaded material" has attracted the attention of Anonymous who have responded by taking down a couple of Simmons-associated Web sites via DDOS attacks. Audrey Waters...74722@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2010-10-20T11:16:03-05:00iPad Lovers Just Skip Thishttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2010/04/15/ipad_lovers_just_skip_this.php
After the flap I created in the comments by implying that Apple would (and does) continue to treat the iPad like a gated Disney-esque community, I figure at least half my readers have already decided I'm too heretical, or offensive. Which, in a very small way, puts me in excellent company. In particular, the cartoonist/satirist Mark Fiore has just won a Pulitzer Prize - the first online-only cartoonist ever to do this - but he's too heretical, or offensive, for Apple. The applet he tried to get into the iStore that would let people read and watch his cartoons on...74408@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2010-04-15T13:47:04-05:00Anti-Staples Ruling Troubles Free-Speech Advocateshttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2009/03/23/antistaples_ruling_troubles_freespeech_advocates.php
Staples' slogan is "That Was Easy." Now it appears that the ease of mass-mailing something to a large number of employees may have brought trouble not only to this company but to everyone - bloggers, journalists, critics, etc - who relies on the notion that truth is an absolute defense against charges of libel. Nobody debates that Jay Baitler, an executive VP at Staples, sent out a mass email giving information about the causes for firing Alan S. Noonan. The ostensible purpose of the email was to remind employees to follow certain Staples procedures. But the cause for action was...73801@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2009-03-23T09:26:01-05:00CBLDF Asking for Support from Creatorshttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2008/12/30/cbldf_asking_for_support_from_creators.php
It's that time of year, when every charitable organization and good cause is asking people for donations. Earlier this year I mentioned the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's efforts to protect the rights of adults to view creative material, even if it is a bit edgy. CBLDF is asking authors, retailers, and other creative types to help as well:If you're a creator or publisher, you can also donate some of your time to the Fund by signing for them at conventions and events, donating signed copies of your work, or something even more creative. If you're a retailer, why not...73662@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2008-12-30T09:20:37-05:00Continuing on the Morality Themehttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2008/12/02/continuing_on_the_morality_theme.php
Neil Gaiman has a long, and cogent discussion in his blog today about the Christopher Handley case. I generally agree with what Gaiman has written. I think popular speech doesn't need defending. It's the edgy, unpopular, icky stuff that needs defending because that's what people will attack. And although Copyfight is not a free speech blog I do passionately believe that much great art is created out on those icky unpopular edges and if we do not defend the rights of people to be patrons of that art then we strip away a lot of what is of value in...73634@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2008-12-02T12:30:17-05:00Fox to FTC: F**k Offhttp://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2007/06/12/fox_to_ftc_fk_off.php
Man this has been a long time coming. I don't know if it'll hold on appeal but at least we finally got a judge to agree that the FCC's censorship is "arbitrary and capricious". Long-time readers of this blog may remember more than a year ago when I started listening to Howard Stern because he seemed to be the FCC's favorite whipping target, including being subject to hidden standards, retroactive censorship, and other such idiocy. Regardless of what you think of the man or his show, I expect you'd agree no one should be subject to that. Part of Stern's...72399@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2007-06-12T14:45:15-05:00The "Power and Danger" of Web 2.0http://copyfight.corante.com/archives/2007/05/07/the_power_and_danger_of_web_20.php
Verne Kopytoff had an interesting think piece last week on SFGate about the pressure on Digg to resist takedown notices, particularly in regard to the "Oh Nine Eff Nine" dust-up. Kopytoff quotes Digg co-founder Kevin Rose as saying:You'd rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. [...] If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying." Which is noble sentiments, don't get me wrong, but misses the point. Digg isn't creating this controversy. Nor are Digg's 'readers' saying "keep on writing about this." Digg's readers are its writers and they're saying "stop...72285@/home/corante/public_html/copyfight/Speech2007-05-07T10:32:25-05:00